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Sexism Among the Sophomores

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Over the course of this semester at Uni, I have continued to identify the toxic masculinity and sexism that exists at Uni, more specifically in my sophomore class. I have found that toxic masculinity is deeply rooted in my male peers, and in my female peers as well. It is continuously disheartening. I am beyond grateful to be a part of the group that put together the survey about sexism at Uni because of the new insight it has provided me with. This new information is not all negative, however, as I was joyously surprised by the number of people willing to be surveyed further about the subject. Even so, there were still many responses on the survey that I was astonished by, but unfortunately not surprised. Some examples follow: “In PE, males in general try harder during sports and fitness.” “The only time that I was treated differently was when it was suggested that I should not have an opinion on abortion.” “Men and women are different and have different needs.” These are direct respo...
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Gay Stereotypes in Film

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     Throughout my extensive experience as a viewer of film and tv shows, I have noticed some common themes. These themes include LGBTQ+ characters acting stereotypically. Specifically, the significant differences in how LGBTQ men versus LGBTQ women are portrayed. Often gay men and gay women are portrayed as their gender counterparts.      For example, gay men are often portrayed as the “gay best friend”, depicting an overly flamboyant, sassy, and over the top character who is often put in place as the comedic relief. One example of this character would be Christian from Clueless who becomes Cher’s “shopping partner” or fashion buddy and as previously mentioned, her “gay best friend”. Gay men are often written into a show for the sole purpose of adding diversity to the cast or as a supporting character for the main characters, specifically for “hyping up” or reassuring the female lead. Gay men are also only really portrayed as being friends with women. Alon...
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Creative Project: Deborah Sampson

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     I created a collage of pictures to represent my figure, Deborah Sampson. Deborah Sampson was a woman who disguised herself as a man to fight in the Revolutionary War. As a child, Deborah became an indentured servant to Deacon Benjamin Thomas. Thomas, a devout patriot, raised Deborah, teaching her things traditionally taught to boys such as how to shoot a gun and protect themselves. She eventually grew up to become strong and intelligent, unlike many girls and women at the time.       At the age of 18, she completed her indentured service and began teaching. While the Revolutionary War continued, she decided she wanted more. She wanted to fight for her country. Unfortunately, she obviously could not because she was a woman and the military would not allow her to fight. Deborah decided she needed to find another way. She sewed her own outfit, cut her hair, and called herself Robert Shirtliff.       She pulled it off and finally w...
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Conversations on Gender

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Lately, I have been having more and more conversations with friends and family regarding gender, sparked, in part by the #MeToo movement and my enrollment in this course. Considering everything occurring in the world today, it is about time we talk about this and other sensitive topics. Having conversations like this is how we can work towards change in the world.  What I learned from all of these conversations is that they take work and it's important to listen, understand, and respond to make them fruitful. These are the key values I took away from my conversations. Listen . I realize that not everyone holds my progressive views on women and gender. For example, talking with my parents made me realize that they are not as progressive as most of us in Generation Z. However, they are clearly aware of the inequality of women in society and the inequity of historic gender roles. Others I talked to have opposite views as me. In those conversations, I have heard claims such as, “I don’...
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